This lesson gives students the opportunity to explore emotions intrinsically linked to the subject of climate change, as well as the idea of a totally different world in the future.

This article highlights lessons that help K-grade 5 students understand that animals and plants can only survive in certain environments.The lessons support the theme of an issue of the free online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle. The theme is "We Depend on Earth's Climate."

Using the web-based lessons highlighted in this article, students learn how to pose questions before, during, and after reading nonfiction, fiction, and diagrams. This reading comprehension strategy is included in the literacy column of the magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, a free, online publication for K-5 teachers.

Three types of climate proxies -- tree rings, fossils, and ice cores -- are the subjects of lessons that will help K-5 students understand that Earth's climate has been different in the past and that scientists can reveal its history. This article is from the science lessons column of the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle. The magazine is structured around the seven essential principles of climate literacy and identifies age-appropriate resources for young learners.

Concepts underlying the first of the Essential Principles of the Climate Sciences are aligned with topics typically taught in the elementary grades. This article identifies lessons that will help elementary students develop an understanding of how Sun's light warms Earth and how variations in daylight hours are associated with seasonal change. This article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle.

This article includes lessons that elementary teachers can use to build the foundations of climate literacy while meeting elementary science standards. Lessons are paired with literacy activities as well.

With two simple classroom experiments and easy-to-read text, this original story is designed to introduce young learners to the greenhouse effect. The author provides different versions of the story for grades K-2 and 3-5, as well as different formats for differentiated instruction. The free online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle focuses on principles of climate literacy that are appropriate for young learners.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students identify the main character in a story and identify their character traits.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson allows students to demonstrate traits from 5 scenarios about energy conservation, biodiversity, and waste management. It is suitable to build their passion towards environmental sustainability and stewardship. All materials and activities in the lesson have been reviewed and are appropriate. On that account, this lesson is recommended for teaching.

POSITIVES:
-Students have the opportunity for auditory, kinesthetic, and visual learning.
-Students have the opportunity to work independently, in small groups, and in whole group discussions.
-Students are able to share their diverse ideas and perspectives in a variety of creative ways.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-Teachers should print handouts prior to the lesson.
-Art supplies are required for comic strips.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-You have many options for how your students read Saving Planet Earthly.
-Students can read independently or in small groups.
-You can read the story out loud to the entire class.
-You may play the audio version while students follow along. The audio version is 8 minutes, 57 seconds long.
-You may read the scenario sheet out loud before students begin acting in the Investigate section.
-Students may be placed in groups of mixed abilities.
-A word bank of personal characteristics can be used to assist students in learning and creating character reactions to scenarios.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students learn Spanish phrases about animals, climates, and simple actions to save energy at home.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson provides elementary knowledge on climate change and biodiversity conservation. It allows students to identify and classify animals in respect to their habitats and climatic zones. All materials in the lesson have been reviewed appropriately and are suitable for teaching. This lesson has passed our science review credibility process.

Esta lección proporciona conocimientos elementales sobre el cambio climático y la conservación de la biodiversidad. Permite a los estudiantes identificar y clasificar animales con respecto a sus hábitats y zonas climáticas. Todos los materiales de la lección han sido revisados ​​apropiadamente y son adecuados para la enseñanza. Esta lección ha pasado nuestro proceso de credibilidad de revisión científica.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson creates a collaborative learning environment as students engage with a variety of modalities.
-The games and activities promote engagement and participation from all learners.
-The lesson introduces students to an authentic Spanish language story from Chile.
-The photographs of animals name the specific places where the animals live.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-Students need no prior knowledge to complete the lesson.
-Teachers may wish to print the Teacher Slideshow to hang in the room to reinforce the concepts and vocabulary.
-Some students may find the “¿Dónde está mi clima” game upsetting if they are unable to find a climate that matches their assigned animal. Teachers can choose some students to role-play the activity in front of the class instead.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-Teachers can easily expand the lesson to include short sentences and more active vocabulary.
-For the postcard activity, students can cut and paste phrases provided by the teacher or copy the words by hand.

This article examines the reading comprehension strategy known as making connections. It involves linking what is being read (the text) to what is already known (schema, or background knowledge). The author provides links to four online resources that will help readers use the strategy in K-5 science and literacy classrooms. The article appears in the free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle, which integrates science and literacy instruction.

The reading strategy known as making connections can greatly enhance students' understanding of any text. This article offers resources that teachers can use to instruct K-5 students in using the strategy. The free, online magazine Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle integrates science and literacy instruction. Each issue contains lessons and activities that combine literacy and science experiences.

This is a very simple but effective lesson that engages students with drawing a map of their local environment, then annotating their map with environmental changes they've observed. The activity taps into higher order thinking because students are synthesizing physical, cultural, environmental, and personal factors and expressing them in a graphical format.

The goal of this assignment is threefold: 1) Reflect on the connection between social and ecological parts of the earth system that we observe in our own lives, 2) Gain experience with mapping change and using maps for sharing both data and personal stories of climate change, and 3) Provide a starting point for gauging our collective experience thinking about climate change.

Interactive cards with gasses portrayed as super heroes are provided for Water Vapor, Carbon Dioxide, Methane, Ozone, Nitrous Oxide, and Chlorofluorocarbons. On one side of the card is an explanation of how the gas is in its natural form and by clicking on the card, it flips to reveal the impact it has on the atmosphere.

Explore how melting of ice cubes floating in water is influenced by the salinity of the water. Important oceanographic concepts like density and density driven currents are visualized and can be discussed on the basis of this experiment.

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In this activity from NOAA's Okeanos Explorer Education Materials Collection, learners investigate how methane hydrates might have been involved with the Cambrian explosion.

SYNOPSIS: In this lesson, students explore critical media literacy and begin creating their advertisements.

SCIENTIST NOTES: This lesson lets students understand the implication of advertisement in influencing green transportation. It is suitable to engage students to create advertisements so as to influence the adoption of green public transportation. All accompanying materials used in the lesson have been verified and validated. On that account, this lesson is recommended for teaching.

POSITIVES:
-This lesson features critical media literacy, an important skill for all students.
-This lesson supports collaboration amongst peers.
-Students explore real-world problems through project-based learning.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-This is lesson 5 of 6 in our 3rd-5th grade Green Transportation unit.
-The videos on slides 13-15 will automatically start and stop at the appropriate times.
-Students should understand how to read a rubric and use it as a guide for increasing their scores.
-The final lesson in this unit plan does not allow any more class time for students to create their advertisements. After this class is over, you could allow more class time for advertisement creation or ask students to finish their advertisements outside of class.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-You can break down the definition of critical media literacy.
-You can allot multiple days following this lesson for advertisement creation time based on students' needs.
-Some students may be using different technologies to create their advertisements (e.g., TikTok, Adobe Spark, Canva, etc.). It may take those students longer to finish their advertisements if they are also learning a new technology.

SYNOPSIS: This lesson features the final advertisement presentations and provides students with the opportunity to think about how to use these projects to make an impact in real life.

SCIENTIST NOTES: The lesson gives students a chance to reflect on the power of advertisement and ways to engage the public to use the metro as a sustainable green transportation model. The materials used in the lesson have been verified and are accurate. Hence, this lesson is recommended for classroom use.

POSITIVES:
-Students explore real-world problems through project-based learning.
-Students practice oral presentation skills.
-Students practice giving constructive feedback to their peers.
-This lesson empowers students to continue their projects after the allotted class time has ended.

ADDITIONAL PREREQUISITES:
-This is lesson 6 of 6 in our 3rd-5th grade Green Transportation unit.
-You can review a code of conduct or guidelines for oral presentations prior to this lesson. This can include an introduction for how to be a prepared speaker and active listener.

DIFFERENTIATION:
-You may scaffold reflection questions with sentence frames.
-You can decide on alternative ways to conduct student presentations based on students' needs.
-Potential action projects for students are listed on slide 14 of the teacher slideshow.

This NASA animation shows the levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide over different time scales. Viewers can compare the last 400,000 years, last 1000 years, and last 25 years. The data come from the Lake Vostok ice cores (400,000 BC to about 4000 BC), Law Dome ice cores (1010 AD to 1975 AD) and Mauna Loa observations (1980 to 2005).

This demonstration shows how water absorbs more heat than air. The corollary that is made is that the oceans are absorbing a lot of the heat related to climate change. The video tutorial shows an engaging demonstration that teachers can do live in their classrooms as part of a larger lesson/discussion about global warming. The video itself also includes an animation of how greenhouse gases contribute to global warming and concludes by mentioning simple solutions for students.